So, about good media players...

[HalOfBorg]

Have you looked in the Bios for restore options?
I think with my netbook you press Alt+F10 on the Acer logo at boot to get to the restore functions. It has a hidden partition.

[Pwolf]

Before we start reformatting and reinstalling OS's, what does work and what doesn't? For the things that don't work, what happens? Do you get an error or just nothing happens? Open up the application event viewer after a failed attempt and look for anything related to it (error/warning with application name at fault for example). Post the findings for each:

Windows Media Player? (what version?)
Media Player Classic?
VLC?
MPlayer?

Also, when did the issue start happening? Did you install anything pior? Was the system shut down unexpectedly? Did you get a BSOD?

This doesn't sound like a codec problem and more to do with a windows component that WMP and MPC share. If you haven't done so already, I would suggest again to update DirectX.

[Phantasmagoriat]

I would suggest trying CCleaner. You don't even need to know what a Registry is... but CCleaner can clean it.

You can also use it to clear your internet history, cookies, temporary files/caches; and it has pretty decent tools for clearing up remnants of programs you want to uninstall, like conflicting codec packs, and a whole bunch of other stuff you may not even know was installed on your computer... ofc, be sure not to uninstall anything that you are not actually supposed to uninstall >.>

So, basically,

• 1. Install CCleaner (Get the Free version)
  2. Use it to clean Windows, Applications, Registry; and Uninstall conflicting codecs and junk stuff
  3. Then fresh re-install MPC + Codecs from the CCCP
  4. Repeat Step 2 every once in a while to optimize your computer's performance

...err... at least that's what I do. Barring that, you might be lucky enough to have a System Restore point on hand; but I suggest trying CCleaner first.

[Hagaren Viper]

Have you looked in the Bios for restore options?
I think with my netbook you press Alt+F10 on the Acer logo at boot to get to the restore functions. It has a hidden partition.

Yeah, by the time I noticed the problem I only had restore points from after this all started, go figure.

Before we start reformatting and reinstalling OS's, what does work and what doesn't? For the things that don't work, what happens? Do you get an error or just nothing happens? Open up the application event viewer after a failed attempt and look for anything related to it (error/warning with application name at fault for example). Post the findings for each:

Windows Media Player? (what version?)
Media Player Classic?
VLC?
MPlayer?

Also, when did the issue start happening? Did you install anything pior? Was the system shut down unexpectedly? Did you get a BSOD?

This doesn't sound like a codec problem and more to do with a windows component that WMP and MPC share. If you haven't done so already, I would suggest again to update DirectX.

Windows Media Player doesn't even attempt to start unless I drag and drop a video on it - then it starts for just a second before closing again and giving me this error:


MPC appears to try and load for a good 5-7 seconds and appears in my processes, but gives up and leaves the processes screen as well. This goes for both opening with and without videos.

VLC seems to work fine for the most part, though while trying to play a movie I got from Netflix I got this error - Note that this was when I pressed play on the dvd menu, it did fine up until then:


I haven't played with VCL too much, but I quickly popped in another DVD and didn't have that problem, so I have no idea if that's related or I just got a crappy Netflix disk.

Aaand I'm actually not sure what Mplayer refers to?

Spoiler :

Pretty sure the problem started on Tuesday. The only thing I had installed that day was the UT Video Codec, and I didn't have any Windows updates until the day after. I had uninstalled the codec for a bit just to test more recently, but that didn't change anything. No unexpected shutdowns of BSOD.

@Phantasmagoriat - Tried the program, while it didn't give me a fix there was a crapload of stuff to clean out so I can't argue

[Qyot27]

Aaand I'm actually not sure what Mplayer refers to?

It refers to this. Most would probably want to use it through SMPlayer, but it's also possible to use it from the command line.

[Qyot27]

Most would probably want to use it through SMPlayer, but it's also possible to use it from the command line.

Wrong link. This is the right one:
http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/